Sabtu, 25 Juni 2011

Spain are the U21 kings of Europe

Spanish football wrote another chapter in its golden age as its Under-21s bagged the European Championship in Denmark this evening with a convincing 2:0 win over Switzerland.

Athletic Bilbao's Ander Herrera scored the opening goal four minutes before the interval, meeting a curling cross from Didac Vila on the run to power a header past Yann Sommer, the first goal the Swiss had conceded in the tournament.

With nine minutes left on the clock, Barcelona's junior wizard Thiago Alcantara grabbed the clincher, lobbing Sommer spectacularly from around 35 yards.

The favourites played much of the second half in cruise control, comfortably sweeping the ball around while Switzerland huffed and puffed in an effort to get level.

Juan Mata took with the tournament's golden boot with five goals.

In the day's earlier third-place play-off, Belarus booked their ticket to the 2012 Olympics with a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic.